


Mystery Valentine

by ladybugxnoir



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-09-26 07:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9874538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybugxnoir/pseuds/ladybugxnoir
Summary: Marinette was completely expecting to spend Valentine's Day alone, but things change when a gift arrives from a mystery admirer with a love of puns.





	1. Chapter One

The door to the bakery seemed heavier than usual as Marinette grimly headed out for school on this particularly cold morning. Marinette glanced briefly at the paper hearts decorating the bakery windows. She had cut each valentine by hand, alternating between dreaming about Adrien, and cursing this lovey dovey season with each cut of the scissors. She didn’t always hate Valentine’s Day, she didn’t particularly hate it now, but the season of love could be quite discouraging when you were hopelessly crushing on your unobtainable classmate.

Marinette was so consumed by her nonexistent love life that she didn’t notice the box sitting just outside the bakery door. Which was rather unfortunate because Marinette probably would have tripped over it even if she knew it was there. And trip she did. She fell with a huff on the cold sidewalk, cursing whatever had caused her spill and gently checking that the sleeping kwami in her purse was okay. Marinette turned as she picked herself up and let out a squeak of surprise. The culprit of her fall was a large, once beautifully wrapped box. Thanks to her clumsiness the gold bow was now a sad pile of ribbon and the pink polka-dot wrapping paper was completely torn on one side.

Marinette stared at the mysterious package, mouth slightly agape, as her mind struggled between panic and confusion. Had she just destroyed someone’s Valentine’s gift? Who was this gift even for? Why was it left outside her parents’ bakery? Oh no, did she just wreck one of her parent’s presents? He mind raced through several more laps of the panic track before she noticed the slightly crumpled note attached to the top of the box. “To Marinette, from your secret admirer”, she read to herself once her shaking hand successfully removed the note from the box. Marinette glanced ruefully from the present down the street towards the direction of school.

“Well Tikki,” Marinette mumbled, “it’s not like this would be the first time I was late for school. Miss Bustier would probably be more surprised if I was actually on time for once.” Despite her reasoning Marinette still felt a pang of guilt as she heaved the disheveled box off the ground and hauled it inside. Wishing to avoid the attention of her lovingly nosey parents, Marinette quickly slipped through the bakery and up the stairs to her room. 

If the paper hadn’t already been wrecked Marinette would have felt slightly bad ripping open such beautiful wrapping. But seeing as half the paper was already hanging in shreds, Marinette eagerly tore the remaining paper, revealing a simple white box. As if Marinette wasn’t curious enough, the mystery deepened when Marinette opened the box and discovered another note and several smaller packages. The note simply read, “open one gift every day until Valentine’s Day, then I’ll give you a gift in person ;)”. Marinette nearly snorted, she only knew one person who would really write out a winky face and she highly doubted he was her secret admirer. She pulled out six separate packages, all wrapped in the same pink paper with a folded heart shaped note attached. Marinette opened the calendar on her phone and counted the days.

“Tikki! Come look at this!” Marinette said excitedly as she held out the note for the little red kwami to read.

“How exciting Marinette! Which one are you going to open first?” Tikki asked, hovering over each present and scrutinizing it carefully.

Marinette closed her eyes and waved her hand randomly over the small parcels, grabbing the first one she felt. She unstuck the note from the top and unfolded it. “You are the sweetest part of my day”. Marinette resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she slit open the wrapping paper unveiling a box of chocolates. A rather expensive box of chocolates, Marinette thought, making a double take at the gilded name on the box.

\--

Marinette wasn’t as late for school as she was expecting. But even if she hadn’t missed the first five minutes of class she wouldn’t have been able to pay attention. She was much too preoccupied thinking about her new secret admirer. Her eyes kept drifting to the glorious blonde locks of the boy sitting in front of her. She wanted to slap herself, or better yet have Alya slap her. There was NO WAY that Adrien, amazing Adrien, was her admirer. It was far more likely to be another classmate, or even a classic Chloe prank.  
Marinette filled in Alya as they walked back to the bakery during lunch break. 

“Don’t worry girl, I’ll help you figure out who your mystery lover is. But even if my amazing detective skills can’t help you, the note does say that your admirer will see you in person on Valentine’s Day,” Alya grinned, elbowing Marinette in the side. 

Marinette glanced sideways at her friend and finally voiced the fear that had popped into her head earlier. “What if this is some kind of prank or something? It seems like the kind of cruel thing Chloe would do” Marinette cringed as she said this, remembering all the other horrible things Chloe had done.

“Oh please, even Chloe wouldn’t put so much work into being mean! Whoever did this clearly likes you Miss Dupain-Cheng!” Alya exclaimed, throwing her arms around Marinette’s shoulders as they entered the bakery.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marintte starts putting clues together, but the more she puts together the less she believes.

Marinette woke up early for the first time in her life. This was mainly due to her excitement about opening another gift, and also thanks to a distinct lack of akuma attacks in the past few days, actually allowing her to sleep. 

Today she picked one of the smaller parcels. The heart shaped note read “time stops when I’m with you”. Inside the pretty pink wrapping was a beautiful silver watch. It looked antique but had a modern face. The designer in Marinette was delighted by the juxtaposition, and also noted how expensive it must have been. She quickly texted Alya, who was compiling a list of clues as to who, as she put it, the mystery lover could be. 

\--  
Marinette was actually early for class for the first time since she became Ladybug. She was already in her seat by the time Alya arrived. The two girls were gushing over the watch and developing theories when Nino and Adrien entered the classroom. Marinette didn’t realize Adrien was speaking to her until Alya nudged her and nodded her head towards him.

“S-sorry Adrien, what did you say?” Marinette stammered, feeling heat rising into her cheeks.

“I said nice watch, it’s really cool!” Adrien repeated, smiling.

“Oh um thank you! It was a gift-“

“From a mystery lover!” Alya interrupted.

“Stop calling him that!” Marinette groaned feeling the heat in her face turn into an actual fire. 

Miss Bustier called the class to order and Marinette tried to focus on the lesson instead of her own awkwardness. 

\--  
“I’m telling you girl, Adrien is totally your mystery man!” Alya argued for the fourth time since class had ended. Marinette was getting tired of fending off this particular argument, but she was just glad Alya had finally stopped calling her admirer her ‘secret lover’. Sometimes you had to focus on the small victories. Like when you were only four days away from facing your mystery man and your best friend was convinced that he was Adrien Agreste, aka the least likely candidate.

“Listen to me. Why else would he have admired your watch!? He wanted to see if you like it, duh! How can you be so oblivious about that boy when you practically stalk him?” Alya asked, her eyes drilling into Marinette from where she sat at Marinette’s desk.

“I do not stalk him!” Marinette shot back, her lower lip pouting slightly. 

Alya looked dryly between her friend and the spot on the wall where she knew Marinette had charted out Adrien’s entire schedule. “You’re right, I stand corrected. You don’t practically stalk him. You one hundred percent actually stalk that boy,” Alya contended, pulling down the borderline creepy schedule.

Marinette knew her face was bright red. She felt like she had spent the entire day blushing and was beginning to wonder how her face hadn’t melted off yet. 

\--  
The third present was Marinette’s favorite so far, but the pun was the worst. Which was really saying something considering how Marinette felt about puns. The note had read “don’t be spoolish, be my Valentine”, which had made exactly zero sense until she opened the gift to find six spools of beautiful silk thread. Marinette was touched by the thoughtfulness of this present and was immediately lost daydreaming about the designs she could perfect with the luxurious thread. 

Actually, the jewel toned silk was exactly what she needed to finish the design she’d been stuck on. Marinette glanced from the sketchbook on her desk to the dress form with the half-finished design. The thread was absolutely perfect, a little too perfect to be a coincidence. Marinette thought quickly, the only people who would have seen her design were her parents and Alya…and Chat Noir. Marinette rubbed her temples as she remembered back to a couple of weeks ago. She had gotten caught, as Marinette, as an akuma called Icebreaker terrorized Paris. Chat Noir had saved her and escorted her safely back to her home (where she had then transformed and kicked some serious akuma ass). Marinette had just made it back to her room and detransformed when Chat had announced himself by tapping on her window. He had just wanted to make sure she was safe, but had stayed and idly chatted for much longer than he should have (Marinette couldn’t help but track the pads on his ring , they had been disappearing at the same rate Chat made puns). And he had seen the less than half-finished jacket that had been stumping Marinette’s creative genius. Not only had he seen it but he had also suggested she add embroidery to the lapel to add a pop of color (she distinctly remembered how he actually made a popping sound with his lips when he said this). 

Alya was convinced that Adrien was the mystery man, but now Marinette doubted that more than ever. 

Marinette arrived at school just before the bell. She had spent a little too much time worrying over her newest suspicion. She glanced quickly at Adrien’s desk, but he hadn’t arrived yet. Which wasn’t unusual, Marinette guessed that he must be late almost as often as she was. Alya and Nino however were already seated at their desks, Nino was turned in his seat and chatting animatedly with Alya. Marinette could make out the words “secret” and “admirer” as she made her way to her seat. She had barely set her bag down when she heard a demanding voice behind her that could only belong to Chloe Bourgeois. 

“Ha did I hear that Marinette has a secret admirer? Don’t make me laugh who would really be interested in Marinette? I mean just look at her hair, it’s tragic!” Chloe laughed in her typical fashion. Marinette didn’t let Chloe’s words rattle her; she was used to Chloe’s abuse by now. Alya on the other hand looked ready to leap across the desk and physically fight the mean blonde. But before Alya could take a breath a different blonde spoke up.

“Knock it off Chloe.” Adrien said, surprising the group since no one had seen him enter. “Leave Marinette alone, there’s no reason why she shouldn’t have an admirer. You’re just jealous that no one has asked you to be their valentine,” Adrien said firmly, standing between Chloe and Marinette. 

Chloe looked like she was short circuiting and was spared having to reply by Miss Bustier calling the class to order. 

\--  
Alya was practically buzzing as they left class.

“Marinette I will bet you real money that Adrien is your mystery man. Why else would he have defended you like that, I mean yeah he is a nice guy, but he really put Chloe in her place! Damn I wish I had gotten it on video!” Alya was definitely more convinced than Marinette. 

“Adrien only defended me cause we’re friends. If he was my secret admirer don’t you think he would have told Nino, or you know, shown any interest in me at all ever,” Marinette said more glumly than she had intended.

“Girl, what boy in our class has shown any more interest in you than Adrien! He totally likes you; you’re just too blinded by your own crush to notice!” Alya exclaimed, stealing a pillow off Marinette’s settee to throw at her. 

The pillow hit Marinette square in the face. Marinette ignored her best friend’s snickering and launched the plush projectile back in her direction. 

In fact, there was another boy who had shown interest in Marinette. He just wasn’t in their class and he happened to be a dork in a cat costume. But Marinette would keep that to herself. Even her hero obsessed friend would find this hard to believe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gee who could Marinette's mystery man possibly be?? XD you can also read the whole thing on my tumblr ladybugxnoir


	3. Chapter 3

The picture frame was beautiful, even if it’s corresponding note had made Marinette roll her eyes so hard she was worried she’d never see straight again (“I’m not a photographer but I can picture us together”, how cheesy). The frame was mostly black, with pink and gold accents. It matched her room perfectly (but of course, if her suspicions were right, her mystery man had spent some time in her room). At first glance she assumed the picture in the frame was just a stock photo, the kind that’s already in the frame when you buy it. It was a beautiful view from the Eiffel Tower, Marinette should know, it was her favorite view when she was Ladybug. Which was why she studied it further. The picture was no ordinary stock photo. It was taken from a vantage point that few people got to see, only two in fact. 

Yet another clue that her mystery man wore a mask and cat ears. But Marinette didn’t have time to ponder her suspicions longer. A slight shaking of the earth and the sound of screaming were all she needed to know that there was an akuma loose. She cursed under her breath, the past few days had been so quiet she was starting to hope Hawkmoth had gone on vacation. 

Chat Noir was already on the scene and punning at the newest villain. Apparently Chat had endless material about rat themed bad guys. Ladybug couldn’t imagine what kind of person would become a rat villain, but she was just glad this baddie wasn’t another heartbroken lover jaded by the Valentine’s season. She had enough of that the year before with Dark Cupid when she had to kiss Chat Noir. She shook her head, now was not the time to think about kissing Chat, especially considering her suspicions regarding her secret admirer. 

At least the fight was an easy one. A rat villain was really no match for cat hero, or at least that was what Chat said. After their usual celebratory fist bump Ladybug practically fled the scene. While they were fighting it was easy to ignore the little voice screaming in her head that Chat was her admirer. But being with him one-on-one made that much more difficult. 

\--  
Back in the safety of her room, and back to her normal self, Marinette consulted Tikki. Her kwami was always an endless source of loving advice, and she really needed to tell someone her thoughts.

“Well Marinette, how will you feel if Chat is your secret admirer?” Tikki asked, looking at Marinette with her big kind eyes.  
“I don’t know I guess I haven’t had time to really think about it,” Marinette said, collapsing into her chair. “I mean he is my partner, even if he doesn’t know that, and I do like being around him, you know when I’m Marinette, not just when I’m Ladybug.” 

“Will you be disappointed if your admirer isn’t Adrien?” Tikki questioned, zooming over closer to her Chosen. 

“I never really thought it was Adrien in the first place. Of course I hoped it was him, but even Alya couldn’t convince me that it actually is him,” Marinette looked dolefully at Tikki. “Actually now I’d probably be more disappointed if my admirer wasn’t Chat. Not that I’d be disappointed if it actually was Adrien! But all the signs are pointing towards Chat, and well, I’m starting to hope that it really is him,” Marinette trailed off, squinting up at her kwami, trying to gauge her reaction.

“Of course you’re hoping it’s Chat Noir!” Tikki reassured, “Chat is one of your closest friends, even if he doesn’t know that you’re Ladybug! You two are partners, it’s natural to feel connected to him and want him to know you personally!” Tikki explained and snuggled up to Marinette’s face. “No matter what happens on Valentine’s Day just remember that whoever put this present together obviously cares about you!” Tikki always knew the right things to say. 

\--  
Marinette was used to blending in with the crowd. She was not used to the whole class going silent and staring at her as she walked to her seat. 

“Girl everyone is talking about you!” Alya enthused as soon as Marinette was seated. “Everyone heard what Chloe said yesterday, and more importantly they heard Adrien shut Chloe down! Everyone’s taking bets. About half of us, myself and Nino included, think Adrien is your mystery lov- sorry man, and the rest think he was just being a good friend!” Alya was definitely way too excited about this.

Marinette was glad Adrien hadn’t arrived yet; this was embarrassing enough without him. Did half of her class really think Adrien was interested in her? For the first time ever Marinette hoped Adrien had a photoshoot all day and wouldn’t make it to class. 

No such luck. Adrien arrived just before the bell and Marinette felt her face burn as the class erupted into whispers and general chatter. But she could hear the words “mystery” and “admirer” and “crush” being thrown around far too much for just casual conversation. Marinette had never been so relieved for class to start. 

\--  
“I find you intoxicating”. The second to last gift was another box of chocolates, from the same chocolatier as the first present (hhmm was her secret admirer running out of ideas?) but these ones had a champagne flavored filling. Marinette made a disgusted face and slid the box over to Tikki. 

“Why would anyone want to combine chocolate and champagne, it’s a waste of perfectly good chocolate if you ask me!” Marinette huffed. As nervous as she was to discover who her admirer was, she was also looking forward to the end of these terrible puns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like some classroom gossip to make poor Marinette feel even more uncomfortable, eh?


	4. Chapter 4

It was February Thirteenth, the day before Valentine’s Day, and the day before Marinette would know for sure who her mystery man was. 

The note on the final gift read “I like you a latte” (great; coffee humor for the person who didn’t even drink coffee). It was a coffee mug. A coffee mug covered in kittens. If the puns hadn’t already been enough then this was definitely the final straw. Her admirer couldn’t be anyone but Chat Noir. Alya would be devastated- she had definitely been banking on Adrien being the mystery man. Marinette groaned. She had just started to process her feelings about Chat a couple days ago, how was she going to face him in just 24 hours?

\--  
School was just as unbearable as it had been for the past few days. Marinette was used to the chatter as she entered the classroom, it seemed like the gossip about her and Adrien wasn’t going to pass quickly. She had been avoiding Adrien, barely glancing at him even though he sat in front of her. Alya seemed to recognize Marinette’s change of mood and dropped her arguments that Adrien was her mystery man. 

Marinette’s avoidance of Adrien was going great (even though her brain was hardwired to pay attention to him) until he pulled her aside after class. 

“So Marinette,” Adrien said smiling, “I hear that you have a secret admirer! Alya says you’ll find out who the mystery guy is tomorrow? Do you have any idea who he could be?” Adrien asked, an amused expression on his face.

“A-Adrien, ah I’m sure you’ve said what everyone is hearing- I mean heard what everyone is saying! I-I’m so sorry you got mixed up in all of this. I really appreciate that you stood up for me the other day, but you really didn’t have to. D-Don’t worry, I know you’re not my secret admirer- I mean of course you’re not, why would you be?! You can go ahead and tell the rest of the class that you’re not too, since apparently some of them think you are,” Marinette realized she was rambling and resisted the urge to smack her hand over her mouth. 

An odd expression crossed Adrien’s face that Marinette couldn’t quite place. “No worries Mari, the gossip doesn’t bother me. So you really have no idea who your secret admirer could be?”

Marinette was so relieved that Adrien wasn’t mad and her brain was already on babble mode, so she couldn’t stop herself from answering. “Well, um, I do have an idea, but it sounds crazy- so crazy that I haven’t even told Alya yet. And out of anybody I should really tell Alya first, since she is obsessed with super heroes, and Chat Noir is a hero after all,” Marinette actually did slap her hand over mouth that time. 

Marinette would have noticed the surprised expression on Adrien’s face if she wasn’t too busy desperately wishing the ground would open up and swallow her. She winced, expecting Adrien to laugh. He didn’t.

“No Marinette, that doesn’t sound crazy! You’re um, you’re really great, why wouldn’t a hero like you,” Adrien said, an odd smile on his face. “Well um, good luck! I can’t wait to hear how it goes!” Despite his reassuring words, Adrien’s quick departure convinced Marinette that he really did think she was crazy, and was fleeing in case her insanity was contagious. 

\--  
February 14th. Today was the day. Marinette didn’t know when her admirer would reveal himself (he’d probably come in through the window like usual right?) so she was on edge all day. Being at school wasn’t making things any better. The class, especially Alya, looked expectant, waiting for Adrien to do some grand reveal. But it never happened. And Marinette was even more determined to avoid Adrien after their bizarre conversation the day before. 

As the day continued Marinette could practically feel Alya deflating next to her. When class ended and Adrien hadn’t put on a grand romantic gesture Alya was downright defeated. 

“So Alya what did you say about betting real money on Adrien being my mystery man?” Marinette asked smugly.

“Oh shut it girl, the day’s not over yet. And we all know Valentine’s Day is even more romantic at night” Alya rebutted, winking at her friend. “Have fun with your mystery lover!” Alya crooned, spinning and walking off in the direction of her home, leaving Marinette blushing. 

\--  
It was just starting to get dark outside when Marinette heard the noise she had been expecting all day, tapping at her window. Marinette made her way up the trapdoor to the roof, grabbing a coat as she went.

“Happy Valentine’s Day princess,” Chat Noir drawled, emerging from the shadows. “Did you like your presents?” he asked, genuinely curious.

“I did, thank you. I was finally able to finish that jacket thanks to you Chat Noir,” Marinette blushed slightly as she said this. 

“Well you know, I don’t just save the day. I’m also a bit of a fashion expert.” Chat smirked, striking a pose. He quickly got serious again, though. “You don’t seem surprised to see me princess.” This wasn’t a question.

“The puns sort of gave you away. That and the cat mug.” Marinette resisted the urge to snort.

“Aren’t you curious what your last gift is?” Chat asked, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. “Your last gift is a kiss, but if you don’t like it you can always return it,” he said, waggling his eyebrows and grinning wickedly. Marinette idly wondered if he would land on his feet if she pushed him off the roof.

Instead she laughed. “Were you really expecting that to work you mangy cat?” Marinette asked between giggles.

“Ugh, mangy? With these glorious locks? You wound me princess!” Chat dramatically clutched at his chest, one arm draped over his forehead in a mock swoon.

Marinette ignored the black cat’s dramatics. “You know I was really expecting some better puns from you Chat Noir.”

“What are you talking about? My puns are purr-fection,” Chat argued, starting to look genuinely wounded.

“Oh please, those were weak. I was half expecting to find a banana with a note saying I find you ap-peal-ing.”

Chat made yet another dramatic expression and wiped imaginary tears from his eyes. “Oh princess, that was truly beautiful. I always knew you liked me,” the wicked expression started to crawl back into his face. “So about that kiss,” the wicked gleam in his eye was quickly replaced by an expression Marinette could only call nervousness. Yup, that was it. The usually smug and confident cat was nervous.

Marinette looked at Chat’s anxious face and suddenly one thing was clear. She definitely liked this boy. She wouldn’t say she was in love, that could come with time, but she was most definitely in like. And the only thing this usually charming, now very nervous, boy wanted was a kiss. Kissing Chat as Marinette couldn’t be much different than kissing him as Ladybug, in fact it might be better. Intrigued by the possibility, Marinette stepped forward, crossing the small distance between them and kissed him right on his nervous, surprised face. Marinette could feel him smiling under her lips, relaxing as the anticipation and anxiety melted from him.

They spent that evening looking out into the night as lights twinkled on across the city. Despite the chill in the air they were comfortable in their own warmth, standing close and talking about everything and nothing. Marinette wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the beeping of Chat’s miraculous interrupted their conversation.

“Well princess, I guess it’s time to say goodnight,” Chat said, a tinge of sadness coloring his voice. He gently took Marinette’s hand and pressed it to his lips. 

“Goodnight Chat, happy Valentine’s Day.” Marinette stepped back and looked into her Valentine’s green eyes. 

“Goodnight Marinette.” Chat said after a long pause, finally releasing her hand. He pressed a light kiss on Marinette’s lips and then disappeared into the night. 

Marinette watched him leave until her eyes lost him in the dark. Once he was out of sight Tikki emerged from her hiding spot in the warmth of Marinette’s room. 

“How did it go?” the kwami asked, snuggling up in the collar of Marinette’s coat. 

“It was really nice,” Marinette sighed happily, “I’m glad it was him. I think it’s always been him.”

“What about Adrien?” Tikki asked, looking up at Marinette curiously.

“I still like Adrien, but I’m really glad I got to spend Valentine’s with Chat. I don’t really know Adrien, not the way I know Chat. And even though I don’t know everything about Chat, I hope to eventually, and maybe one day I’ll tell Chat everything, that way he can know me too.”

“Everything?”

“Yes, Tikki. Everything. I want him to know absolutely everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END! (or is it?) 
> 
> I want to say a huge thank you to tumblr user ohmygoad for beta reading this chapter!!
> 
> Also in case anyone was wondering Adrien was totally planning on being Marinette’s mystery man until she said she suspected Chat, then he lost his nerve and decided to show up as Chat :)


	5. Alternate Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it only took six months, but here it is! The bonus chapter I hinted at so long ago! People were asking for an alternate ending or an epilogue, but I thought an alternate ending would be more fun! 
> 
> I’m posting without a beta reader cause this already took so long to write (thanks writer’s block) and it’s just supposed to be a fun bonus!

     Marinette and Chat Noir spent that evening looking out into the night as lights twinkled on across the city. Despite the chill in the air they were comfortable in their own warmth, standing close and talking about everything and nothing. Marinette wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the beeping of Chat’s miraculous interrupted their conversation.

     “Well princess, I guess it’s time to say goodnight,” Chat said, a tinge of sadness coloring his voice. He gently took Marinette’s hand and pressed it to his lips.

     “Goodnight Chat, happy Valentine’s Day.” Marinette stepped back and looked into her Valentine’s green eyes.

     “Goodnight Marinette.” Chat said after a long pause, finally releasing her hand and pressing a gentle kiss against Marinette’s lips.

     Chat turned to leave, preparing to race off into the night before he transformed. And immediately fell on his face. Somehow his tail had tangled itself in the balcony railing, effectively tripping him. Marinette had to stifle a giggle; she wasn’t used to seeing Chat so ungraceful. Chat, looking quite embarrassed, righted himself and grumbled under his breath.

     Marinette was about to make a joke about cats always landing on their feet, but an urgent beeping cut her off.

     “Chat your ring!” Marinette called, but it was too late. Chat’s tail was still knotted around the railing, he had nowhere to go.

     There was a flash of green light and Marinette’s hands shot up to face, covering her eyes.

     “Um, Chat? I’ll just ah, go inside, and you can um, do whatever it is you have to do,”

     “It’s alright Marinette,” Chat interrupted, sounding slightly defeated. “I’m sort of stuck here, until I can find some Camembert anyways,” he muttered, “and it’s not exactly like I can stroll out the front door; your parents don’t even know I’m here. And anyways, I trust you. I know you’ll keep my secret, you’re a good person,” he added quietly.

     “Are you sure?!” Marinette squeaked, sounding much more panicked than the unmasked hero did.

     “Of course.”

     Suddenly Marinette could feel warm hands on her own, gently pulling her hands from her face. She slowly opened her eyes and saw-

     “A-Adrien?!”

     “Hi Marinette,” Adrien responded, releasing her hands and rubbing the back of his neck.

     Marinette was vaguely aware of a dark object zooming around Adrien’s head, but she was much too preoccupied with staring at _Adrien_. Marinette opened her mouth to speak but promptly shut it again.

     “I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” Adrien said sheepishly. “I can explain, but you have to understand that no one can know about me. Not even Alya or Nino.”

     At a loss for words, Marinette opened and closed her mouth again, looking rather like a fish.

     “You’re Chat Noir.” Marinette finally said, unable to actually look Adrien in the eye.

     “Um, yeah, sorry I know you’re probably disappointed,” Adrien said, staring down at his feet.

     “D-Disappointed?” Marinette asked, slightly dazed as she tried to process how she had gone from kissing Chat to talking to Adrien.

_Kissing Chat_. She had kissed Chat Noir. The same Chat Noir who was actually Adrien. She had kissed _Adrien_.

     Marinette felt like she was going to pass out, or start screaming, probably both.

     “Um, e-excuse me! I just need to air some get- I mean, get some air!” Marinette half shrieked and half stammered, doing her best not to sprint back inside (leaving poor Adrien very confused outside in the fresh air).

     As soon as Marinette was back in her room Tikki was by her side.

     “Well Marinette, it looks like you got to spend Valentine’s Day with Chat Noir _and_ Adrien!” Tikki giggled.

     Marinette couldn’t understand what exactly was amusing about the situation. Nauseating was the word Marinette would use.

     “Um, Marinette?”

     Neither Marinette nor Tikki had seen Adrien come down the trapdoor from the roof. But Adrien had certainly seen Marinette chatting with a little red creature he could only guess was a kwami.

     They stared at each other for a solid minute, Marinette’s panic rising as she tried to think of a reasonable explanation, before a dark shape zoomed out from Adrien’s jacket.

     “Well I guess the cat’s out of the bag,” it said, sounding rather amused by the turn of events.

     “Plagg!” Tikki exclaimed and zoomed across the room to the little black creature, knocking into him.

     “Um, Marinette?” Adrien repeated, sounding more confused than the first time.

     “I-I’m Ladybug. That’s my kwami, Tikki.” Marinette eventually said, finally taking her eyes off the kwamis to look at Adrien. She winced at his shocked expression. “I’m sure you’re disappointed.” She could feel her face heating and the threatening sting of tears behind her eyes.

     “D-Disappointed?! “ Adrien spluttered, stepping closer. “Marinette, I could never be disappointed in you, you’re wonderful,” he added, looking down and blushing.

     Marinette’s brain had shut down completely. Whatever words she might have been able to say in Adrien’s presence had abandoned her.

     “Um, my lady? Are you okay?”

     Somewhere in the panicked churning of her mind Marinette was aware that Adrien was now holding her hands.

    "Yeah, yeah I’m fine!” Marinette exclaimed, her voice bordering on hysterical, as she snapped back into focus.

     Adrien didn’t look convinced. “I know this is a lot to process, but we’ve survived worse, right LB? And think of all the ways we can strategize now that we know each other’s identities! This is all gonna work out, I promise.”

     Marinette couldn’t look away from Adrien’s eyes as he spoke, he sounded so sure and earnest. She glanced over to where Tikki was now snuggling Plagg, and her kwami gave her an encouraging nod. Marinette felt Adrien give her hands a reassuring squeeze.

     Marinette took a deep breath and fought off the scream that had been threatening to escape for the past ten minutes. “Y-You’re right,” Marinette cleared her throat and inwardly begged her voice to remain steady. “This is going to take time to get used to, but it will be easier now that we can coordinate outside of our suits. It’s going to be, different, but we’ve always had each other’s backs right?” She did her best to smile up at Adrien as his expression warmed. “Still partners?”

     “Well, I was actually hoping we could be a little more than partners, considering we’ve already kissed,” Adrien trailed off, worried he might have crossed a line.

     Marinette’s brain shut down for the second time that evening.

\--

     The entire class looked ready to explode when Adrien and Marinette entered the classroom holding hands. There was a chorus of “I knew it!” and also an indignant cry of “ridiculous!”. Marinette was pretty sure she even saw money exchanged. She shrugged it off and finally released Adrien’s hand to take her seat.

     “I’m going to need details! Copious details!” Alya hissed into Marinette’s ear.

     Marinette fought off a smirk. “A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the idea for this ending while chatting with thegreatsecca on tumblr , thanks for the inspiration friend!
> 
> I’m not done with this story yet! I’m currently working on a companion piece so keep an eye out for it ;) Although knowing myself it will probably be three thousand years before it gets posted

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, my first fic! I didn't have a beta reader for the first three chapters so please forgive all the errors!


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